CuO nanowires prepared via a facile solution route and their photocatalytic property

doi:10.1016/j.matlet.2011.12.077

Materials Letters

Volume 72, 1 April 2012, Pages 49-52

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2011.12.077 Get rights and content

Abstract

CuO nanowires were prepared using Cu foil as substrate via a solution route in large scales. The method was simple, low cost, and can be completed in the absence of any surfactant. The morphological investigation of synthesized CuO products was analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) which confirmed that the synthesized products are wire-shaped and are grown in large quantity. The detailed structural, compositional and optical characterizations of the synthesized nanowires were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and UV–vis spectroscopy, which confirmed that the obtained nanowires were well-crystalline pure CuO and possessing good optical properties. Additionally, photocatalytic performance of the CuO nanowires was evaluated. About 90% of the methyl orange was degraded after 180 min under nature light, which was significantly more efficient than CuO nanoparticles.

Highlights

►Facile solution method for the first time. ►Structure and optical properties of CuO nanowires on Cu foil. ►Enhanced photocatalytic property of CuO nanowires, compared to CuO nanoparticles.

Introduction

Cupric oxide (CuO) as an important P-type transition-metal semiconductor with a narrow band gap, has received much attention for their numerous applications in the fields of cutting edge science and technology, like gas sensors [1], [2], solar photovoltaics [[3], [4], [5]], heterogeneous catalysis [6], [7], lithium ion electrode [8], dye-sensitized solar cells [9], field emission emitters [10], [11], etc. And lots of well-defined CuO nanostructures have been prepared, such as nanoparticles [12], nanoribbons [13], nanosheets [14], nanoneedles [15], nanorings [16], nanowhiskers [17], nanorod [18], nanotubes [19], nanoleaves [20], and nanoflower [21]. Compared with the 0-dimensional, 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional CuO, one-dimensional (1D) materials, especially nanorods and nanowires, have been the focus of considerable interest because of their fundamental importance and potential applications in constructing nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices [22].

Environmental safety is one of the serious concerns for the scientific community because of rapid increase in the use of organic pollutants in agriculture and various industries which caused severe adverse effects on the environment. CuO is a good promising candidate for wastewater treatment. In this work, a successful synthesis of CuO nanowires via solution method process was done and characterized in terms of their optical properties and photocatalytic activity.

Section snippets

Synthesis

All the reagents used in this synthesis were of analytical grade and used as received without further purification. The typical reaction process for the synthesis of CuO nanowires was as follows. Firstly, a copper foil (20 mm × 20 mm × 0.15 mm) was cleaned in the ultrasonic bath with absolute ethanol and deionized water to remove adsorbed dust and surface contamination. Then, the Cu foil was etched by 4 M HCl aqueous solution to get rid of the residual oxide layer. 10 mL, 5 M NaOH and 10 mL, 0.5 M (NH₄)₂S₂O

XRD analysis

Fig. 1 shows the XRD pattern of the as-prepared CuO nanowires. The diffraction peaks of this product could be indexed to the monoclinic CuO phase (JCPDS 05-0661). The CuO lattice constants obtained by refinement of the XRD data for the sample were a = 4.685 Å, b = 3.426 Å, c = 5.130 Å and β = 99°24′, consistent with the standard values for bulk CuO (JCPDS 05-0661). No peak from impurities can be observed in the XRD spectrum of the obtained sample, indicating high purity of CuO products and also, the sharp

Conclusions

In summary, we have developed a facile approach for the synthesis of CuO nanowires with an average diameter of 40 nm, and lengths of up to 3000 nm on Cu foil. The as-prepared nanowires have been systematically studied by using XRD, FESEM, TEM, FTIR, and UV–vis. In our work, UV–vis spectra were employed to estimate the optical property and the band gap of CuO nanowires is determined to be 1.85 eV. Additionally, the CuO nanowires have good photocatalytic performance on the degradation of MeO under

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CuO nanowires prepared via a facile solution route and their photocatalytic property

Abstract

Highlights

Introduction

Section snippets

Synthesis

XRD analysis

Conclusions

Mater Lett

Sol Energy Mater

Mater Chem Phys

Mater Lett

Mater Lett

Nanotechnology

Solid State Electron

Thin Solid Films

Nature

J Phys Chem B

Appl Phys Lett